Page 57 of Treacherous

Gonzalez's offer was complete bullshit, but it was bullshit I couldn’t afford to turn down. "I don’t have a ride to get up there," I told him as I stared out the bay window. I couldn’t ask Tommy or Low. They'd been seen with me before. It was far too risky. If anyone got wind of the fact that I was doing a job for George's nemesis I – and anyone with me – would be a dead man…

"You're a resourceful kid," Gonzalez told me. "Find a way."

If JD found out I was doing side work for his father's opposition he'd kill me with his bare hands, but like I said Gonzalez's bullshit was too good to refuse.

My eyes fell on Teagan as she stalked up her driveway soaked to the skin and then to her cherry-red civic and suddenly I heard myself saying, "I'll be there."

****

Teagan

Uncle Max had left for work by the time I skulked back to the house.

Last night's dinner plates were exactly where we'd left them – on the coffee table – so after finishing my homework I set to work on straightening the house up before heading upstairs for a shower.

After showering and dressing in a t-shirt and pajama shorts I spent a few moments ogling my plane ticket home that Max had left on my night stand –pretty little shamrock– before sending Hope a text to let her know I'd managed to crack question three in our Trig homework. She didn’t respond to my text, and I presumed she was on the phone to the wonderfulJordan.

The rest of the evening dragged painfully on and by nine o clock I was bored stiff. There was only so many times a person could recite the thirty-two counties before turning slightly suicidal, so with nothing better to do I decided to terrorize myself with some horror movies.

I was pretty sure the storm was picking up outside and I wanted to be sound asleep before it got any worse.

As I lay curled up on my couch in my pajamas, watchingFriday the 13thon my laptop, I closed my eyes and tried to empty my mind from all thoughts of my infamous ass jiggling. It was surprisingly easy and within minutes I was dozing off…

It could have been minutes later or hours when the sound of a door banging startled me from my sleep. A hand covered my mouth, stopping me from screaming out.

"Payback's a bitch," a male voice whispered in my ear seconds before I was dragged off the couch.

****

I heard my laptop crash to the floor but I couldn't see a damn thing. Everything was black. I mean pitch-black dark, but I knew exactly whose shoulder I was tossed over – I knew exactly whose back my face was pressed against.

I could smellhim.

"If you broke that, you'll be sorry," I spat as I flayed my legs and struggled furiously to free myself from his clutches. "I know karate."And seven other Chinese words…"Let me go."

"You fight like a bitch,Thorn," Noah taunted as he slapped me hard on the ass. I was in a pair of light cotton pajama-shorts and the slap really stung. "Where are your car keys?"

"Like I'd tell you," I snarled.Don't look at the back of the door. Don't look at the back of the door…"And if you hit me, I'll hit you back," I added before reaching my hand under the waistband of his sweats and digging my nails into his butt-cheek.

"Jesus, you really are a thorn," Noah grunted and for a moment I thought he'd drop me, but then he straightened up and stalked through what I presumed was my hallway, stopping at the front door to removemy keysfrom the lock. Dammit…

"What happened to the lights?" I asked out of morbid curiosity. "What are you going to do to me?"

"Nature happened," he replied smugly. "And not nearly as much as I want to," he added before dropping me onto the floor. "Thanks for the wheels."

The minute he opened the front door I started to scream the place down.

"Thief," I roared at the top of my lungs, but Noah was too damn fast. He moved like a ninja, getting from my front door to my car within seconds.

"Hey," I screamed as I rushed down my porch steps to where Noah was climbing into the driver's seat ofmycar and then cranking the engine ofmycar. The wind was vicious, blowing me backwards, and I was drenched almost instantly from the heavy rainfall.

Now I know fear should have been my strongest emotion, considering I was being car-jacked and standing outside in a storm, but anger was what coursed through my veins.

Lightening forked in the sky above me.

And then I made the stupidest decision of my life.

I got into the car with Noah Messina.

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